Freshman Jacob Parker took a swing, missed, and almost fell to his knee before walking out of the batter’s box in the bottom of the 10th inning, Sunday in Athens, Ga.
Parker had two home runs on the day, fueling an unbelievable comeback for Mississippi State. The Bulldogs had trailed by five runs, before battling and taking a 9-8 lead in the eighth. Georgia forced extras, but State was in it.
He took a home run hack at a high fastball with two runners on and two out, but couldn’t send his third ball over the wall. UGA players ran out of their dugout, celebrating another trip to Omaha.
MSU’s dugout looked on, shattered, blank stares painted on their tired faces. Their season was over.
UGA took Game 2 of the Athens Super Regional, 11-9, in extras, fending off a comeback effort from the desperate Bulldogs.
MSU was down 7-2 after five. A Kevin Milewski two-run bomb was the only life State’s offense had displayed. Georgia starter Caden Aoki kept MSU in check. He went a career-high 121 pitches, going 5.2 innings with four runs, eight hits and nine strikeouts.
Once State’s offense got to the bullpen it woke up. Trailing 8-4 in the seventh inning, junior Ace Reese, graduate Noah Sullivan and Parker hit back-to-back-to-back solo home runs to bring the game within one.
Parker hit a two-RBI jack low in the zone in the eighth inning, giving State a 9-8 lead.
State had a chance to force a Game 3 in regulation, but a one-out RBI single from Georgia’s Brennan Hudson tied the game at 9.
Golden Spikes award candidate Daniel Jackson hit a two-run bomb in the top of the 10th, which proved to be the nail in the coffin for State.
MSU threw four pitchers. Starter Ryan McPherson struggled, allowing four runs in his 1.1 innings of work. O’Connor turned to sophomore Duke Stone early, who ate 5.2 innings and allowed four runs on five hits.
Junior Tyler Pitzer went 2.1 innings with two earned runs. Freshman Maddox Miller pitched two outs in the 10th inning.
UGA and MSU combined for a historically high-scoring super regional. The two games saw 45 total runs and 21 home runs across 19 innings. UGA’s total margin of victory was just three.
Jake is the Mississippi State athletics reporter for The Dispatch.
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